Essex County Sheriff Kevin F. Coppinger swore in 24 new correctional officers and promoted nine officers to the rank of sergeant last Friday at a Basic Training Academy graduation at Northern Essex Community College’s Haverhill campus.
The new officers recently completed a 10-week academy that included training in department protocols and procedures, as well as training in de-escalation, mental health, medical response, driving skills and physical fitness. The training was completed at the Essex County Sheriff’s Department Training Academy at Northern Essex Community College. The academy uses a mock housing unit and cells to provide scenario-based training to prepare officers for their work in corrections.
“We are very proud of these new officers for their willingness to serve in corrections, an undervalued and underappreciated arm of law enforcement. These men and women understand the job is not about punishment—it’s about helping justice-involved people find solutions and skills to help them succeed upon release,” Coppinger said.
The new officers are: Andrew Blacker, Jean Fleurimond, Kayli Kotchian, Austin Parrotta, Aaron Blaisdell, Alex Garcia, Kelly Lycett, Reginald Pierre, Daniel Coulter, Hayden Hamilton, Colin McMahon, Louis-man Rezan, Elijah Day, Christian Hennigar, Ryan Muniz, Dario Sakaj, James DeGloria, Siji Idris, Jaden Nigro, Sean Smerczynski, Carlos Doubleday, Jager Ingham, Abel Nunez and Brian Wilson.
During the ceremony, Coppinger also promoted nine officers to the rank of sergeant. They are George Arauz, Sean Godding, Isaac Mercer, Meghan Coakley, Brett Graham, Anton Trubitsyn, Mark Duquette, Eric Hefner and Daniel Tsoutsouris.
Also promoted during the ceremony were Jennifer Murphy to assistant superintendent of women in transition, Dimitri Flessas to classification caseworker and Ivett LaFave to STAR navigator.